In Between Treachery and Chaos
by narukietyam
Summary: Naru is the Emperor, There's Lin, Yasu, Masako, John, Ayako and Bou-san..who else..Mai? Who's Mai! Sneaky little serious Mai! The Empress Dowager is EVIL! WICKED! Crazy me and crazy summary! :D AU OC ME!


Well I would have to remind you now first and foremost that I am no master of Chinese History and any discrepancies or misgivings will be unintentional and I would have to apologize now for it.

Second I am no master of patience or perseverance and venturing to a chaptered-fic again is suicide as what others of you would understand. But I am determined now not to abandon an ongoing fic and let it stay stagnant for 3 years -_-

Third I would be busy because of school work and I'm not sure I can make my fic perfect but I will do my best to avoid spelling and grammatical errors as much as I could

Fourth I know you're bored now so let's start. This is a sort of historical fic based on Ancient China most probably the latter part of the dynastical period. I'm not that familiar with the setting of China during that time but I know some facts about it so I will use it here.

Chapter 1

He turned around the corner and entered a dark alley. With hushed and quick steps he padded from alleys to alleys trying not to be noticed by anyone. He could do a lot of things, he's just talented like that, but trying to go somewhere like this is not one of his expertise, especially with a face that is recognizable in the whole place. He definitely needed to be careful.

With the last turn he finally saw the small hut on the end of the village. He knocked on the door twice and waited for the owner to answer the door. When the door opened it revealed a tall young man looking at the visitor expectantly. The young man immediately let the door open wide for the visitor to enter. He motioned for the guest to sit on the small dining table as he went to his room to get his spectacles and a notebook that contains information that the said guest would need.

"What have you found, Yasuhara?" The dark haired guest asked sipping the tea the bespectacled student offered him.

"A lot as I would want to say Your Majesty" Yasuhara answered sitting across the disguised Emperor.

"I said don't call me that" The dark-haired Emperor reprimanded his friend.

"Okay, Naru I'm surprised that Lin is not with you today." Yasuhara, or Yasu for short inquired as her seated in front of his friend.

"I'm using him as a distraction, there've been a lot of commotion inside recently and I took the opportunity to slip off without being noticed. Enough for that though, tell me what youﾒve found." Naru motioned for Yasu to speak, with immense grace, he leaned back on the chair and untied the black cloak on his neck and let it fall down.

"It's the Empress Dowager Jia Xin who ordered the ambush of you dear friend, General Shi Yun last month in Peking." Yasu looked at him wearily.

"I thought so." He nodded asking the student to continue.

"And there are also rumours spreading around recently about you, Your Majesty." Yasu laid down his notes and removed his spectacles and looked at the man in front of him intently.

"And what is that?" Naru asked leaning forward the table resting his chin on his knuckles on top of the table looking back to his friend with the same intensity.

"They are using the aspect of Tien Min to topple you down. They are starting to bad mouth you in the markets, in the villages, in the universities. They say that you're not worthy of the throne because of your blood...because your mother was evil, they said." Yasu looked down for a while to regain his composure and looked again at his friend for reactions. Naru was still for a second in deep thought before he let out a soft sigh and leaned back again on the chair.

"I knew it would come to that sooner or later anyway." He whispered.

"But it is not right to say so! Just because the late Lady Luella was of western blood does it mean that she's a wicked person..I remember her being so gentle and beautiful.." Yasu exclaimed.

"Well, that's how people think, or at least that's how the instigators wanted people to think. But I won't let them have their way." Naru give out a small smile to cheer up his friend. His mother, Luella and Yasuhara's mother grew up in the same house. They were raised by a very young doctor who lived outside the village. When the Emperor met his mother, they immediately fell in love with each other. Their relationship grew and one day the Emperor asked her to go back with him in the palace. After a few years Naru was born. The Empress, Jia Xin couldn't have a child so Naru became the heir to the crown if the dynasty would live on. During his childhood, Luella would always sneak out of the palace with him to meet with her sister-friend and Naru and Yasu became friends since then.

"Well, I suggest you look into your generals too Naru, the Empress Dowager cannot do this on her own." Yasu said smiling back to his friend. Naru stood up and retied his cloak in place and went towards the door. Yasu stood up as well and watch his friend leave.

"Thanks, Yasu." Naru looked back before disappearing to the shadows of the night.

"Stay strong, Naru." Yasuhara whispered.

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"You were out for so long, Your Majesty" Lin whispered in the silence of the night when he heard a slight hushed step on the Emperor's quarters. He stood up from his study and immediately went out to assist his master.

"Yasu's got a lot to say to me." Naru answered as he let Lin remove his cloak and woke up the servants to order for hot water for the Emperor's bath.

"I presume you took the route carefully? It would arise suspicions and doubts if one saw the Emperor loitering outside the palace at this hour." Lin reminded Naru.

"Yes, I did." Naru said before entering the bath.

"And Lin, I want you to invite the Empress Dowager tomorrow morning. I would love to serve her a good breakfast tomorrow near the pond." Naru said with a smirk.

"Eh? Ah..sure Your Majesty." Lin bowed.

After the servants retreated to call it a night and returned back to their quarters Naru went out and walked on the garden just behind his quarters. The guards who saw him immediately were on alert but he told them that he just wanted to walk for a while. Looking at the moon, Naru replayed his conversation with Yasuhara early that evening and his favorite memory of his late mother singing to him on the same place that he is standing now. His reverie was interrupted when he heard a commotion at the entrance of the palace where the guards were stationed at earlier. He went near to see what's happening when he see the chief monk and the head priestess arguing with the guard.

"I told you I need to talk to the Emperor! Oh Bou-san what are you doing here?" Ayako, the head priestess argued.

"I need to see the Emperor too!, You too, Ayako?" Bou-san or the monk said.

ﾓBut it's already so late, you will disturb the Emperor can't that be postponed until tomorrow morning?" The guard asked.

"NO!" The two visitors said in unison.

"That's alright, let them in." The Emperor said from where he was standing. The monk and the priestess blew a sigh of relief as they followed the emperor inside.

"What do you have to say, Ayako?" Naru asked.

"I-I dreamt of a girl and I saw her fate connected to you..but something foreboding is hovering over your fate. I still couldn't understand it properly I apologize for giving you something so vague." Ayako bowed.

"And you, Bou-san?" Naru asked.

"A terrible calamity, chaos, and tumultuous incidents will be blamed after you." Bou-san said looking at Ayako.

"..don't you think that those two are connected?" He asked.

"I feel that it is. Anyway, please be careful Your Majesty so that you will not endanger the person you hold dear to you." They said and retreated for the night.

*Tien Min-Mandate of Heaven or something that says that the Emperor has the blessing of the god and that he possesses all the Confucian virtues that the Emperor must have. Or something like that? :D


End file.
